← Toilet replacement bid calculator
Owners call with a box in the hallway: “I already bought the toilet. Can you just set it for $249?” That sounds like free margin because the fixture invoice left the bid. It did not leave the trip, the wax, the set hours, or the chance that the bowl is a 12-inch on a 10-inch closet.
Open the free toilet replacement bid calculatorA plumber-supplied two-piece still carries the fixture invoice. An owner-supplied bowl that actually fits zeros that line and keeps the same set hours. On a typical 12-inch swap-only — $42 wage, 30% burden, 15% overhead, 20% target margin, six miles — the plumber-supplied bid is in the mid-$500s. Zeroing a $165 bowl drops it, but the owner-supplied walk-away stays above $249. Taking the Facebook special to “just set what they bought” still loses money.
| You supply | They supply, it fits | They supply, wrong rough-in | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bowl invoice in the bid | Yes | No | No |
| Set hours | Same | Same | Same, plus a callback |
| At $249 install-only | Loses | Still loses | Loses more |
Store shelves default to 12-inch. Plenty of closets are 10-inch or 14-inch. Setting the wrong bowl means an offset flange or a drive back to exchange it. Price that callback on the same closet before you agree. The calculator adds a starting second trip and a 10-inch offset kit on top of the rates you already typed.
Open the toilet replacement bid calculator, enter the closet you are standing in, and put their install-only number in “price you’re considering.” The who-supplies table scores that number against you-supply, owner-supplies-it-fits, and owner-supplies-wrong-rough-in. Nothing is uploaded.
This is the same arithmetic as how much to charge to replace a toilet. Saturday overflow? See should I take a Saturday toilet call. It is not a plumbing-code determination, a fixture specification, or a reason to refuse a customer — it is the walk-away number on each supply path.
Only after you price the set without the fixture invoice. Pulling their box is still a trip, a wax ring, and crew hours. A $249 install-only special often sits under that walk-away number even when the bowl is free to you.
Usually not. Zeroing a $165 two-piece invoice drops the bid, but loaded labor, travel, wax, and overhead stay. On a typical 12-inch swap the owner-supplied walk-away is still above $249. A wrong rough-in adds a second trip and an offset flange.
That is a second dispatch plus an offset flange or an exchange. Price that callback on the same closet before you agree to set whatever they rolled into the driveway. The calculator adds a starting callback trip and a 10-inch offset kit on top of your current rates.